I grumbled to myself the whole trip away from my home. I could nearly sense my mother panicking. My brother will not be happy about this. Mum...my father...but I will be back with a pokemon. It will be one of the best pokemon they have ever seen! It will only take about fifteen minutes. Twenty minutes tops.

I have already visited the pokecenter. I bought a few things. I got a few potions, revives, and pokeballs. That was all my collected allowances would afford. Now, here I am, standing in front of the entrance gate, the only thing separating me from the wild world outside of Hammerlocke.

Usually, I could see the multitude of grass and trees. Not in the darkness of the night. I could see nothing but darkness. Maybe...this was not my best idea? There was no way I was going to face my brother without a pokemon, though. I didn't want the champion to give me a long drawn out inspirational speech either.

With that thought in mind, I took a deep breath and left Hammerlocke. "I wonder how everyone else is doing?" I asked myself as I walked down the large staircase.

Oooooo

"JJ..?" Raihan called as he gently knocked on his sibling's door.

After a good talking to from his parents, Raihan had come to apologize. It took him a minute to see what he did wrong. However, when he did realize his mistake, he was deeply saddened. He wanted to remain a great older brother in his sibling's eyes. That had motivated him to put aside his pride and knock on the door.

"JJ, are you awake? If you are, I'm sorry. I'm...rubbish with knowing when to shut my gob. I just…" Raihan sighed and finally turned the doorknob.

He poked his head into the dark room. "JJ..?" To his surprise, his sister was nowhere near the area.

Raihan walked into the room in complete shock, not just because the room was empty. There was broken glass scattered on the floor, a draft from the noticeably broken window, and scuff marks on the hardwood floor. Raihan had begun to panic.

He quickly glanced around the room. "JJ!" He frantically looked throughout the room. He even checked under the bed and in the closet. He checked in the bathroom too. "JJ! Jewel!" Raihan stuck his head out of the window and called out to his sibling.

He received no answer.

Raihan slowly shook his head and ran out of the room.

He ran into the living room and exclaimed, "Jewel's gone!" Raihan was now in a full blown panic.

While mum stayed seated in shock, Elio stood up with a serious look on his face. "What do you mean she's gone? She was in her room not too long ago. I talked to her since I heard glass breaking. She said her pignite bank fell-" He was interrupted by Raihan.

He said, "That wasn't her pignite bank that broke. The bank is still on her top shelf. What broke was her window! There are glass shards all over the ground and scuff marks on her floor!" Raihan shook his head again. "I think she's been kidnapped or something!"

Leon looked up from his spot in his chair while Elio visibly tensed at that.

Mum was pretty worried, but she somehow managed to keep her cool. "Wait. If the pignite bank breaking was actually the window, why would she try to hide the breaking window?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

Elio snapped his fingers. "That's right! If she was about to be kidnapped, she would scream and try to alert us in every way possible." He looked up in thought.

Leon looked at the two parents in confusion. "With all due respect, are you two suggesting that JJ left on purpose?" He looked between them.

"It's a big possibility." Mum replied and looked at him. "Why else would she hide the breaking of her own window and disappear?" She tilted her head.

Leon looked down in thought. He bit his lip. He was thinking deeply about something.

Elio looked down at his wife. "Well, if she did leave on her own, where would she go and...why?" He tapped his chin.

All was quiet in the room as they brainstormed. The only thing that dared to make noise was the wall clock.

Raihan pondered over things himself before he gasped and facepalmed. "Oh arceus. I'm such an idiot." He grumbled to himself.

Elio frowned and looked over at his son. "You okay, Raihan?" He frowned deeply.

"No…" Raihan shook his head somberly. "I said that she couldn't catch a pokemon if she tried and now she's gone. Knowing JJ, she went off to prove me wrong." He kept a hand on his head and his gaze to the ground. "I am nearly one hundred percent sure that she went to the-"

"Wild area." Raihan and a wide eyed Leon finished in sync.

Mum looked up with wide eyes herself. "At night?!" She glanced around.

Leon looked at the front door. "And under prepared, no doubt." He bit his lip so hard he thought it might bleed.

Mum looked up at her husband. "E-Elio..!" There was a terrified expression in her eyes.

He frowned before looking back at his teary eyed wife. "...I will get in contact with the authorities. There must be something they can do." Elio tried his best to stay strong for his wife.

Raihan nodded before saying, "Great. Leon and I can split up and search the wild area. He looked over at Leon. "Are you up for that, mate?" There was a serious expression on his face.

He did not hesitate. Leon stood up with a nod. "Yeah. Charizard and I can scan the area pretty quickly." He wore more of a determined look.

The darker male agreed. "Good thinking. Flygon and I will do the same. We might want to take our camping gear. Worst case scenario." Raihan shrugged afterward.

After some brief packing and preparation, Raihan and Leon headed out the front door.

Raihan looked back at his parents and said, "Don't worry. We'll be back with JJ soon." He sent out his flygon while Leon sent out his charizard.

Mum waved at them. "Do be safe…" She frowned, prompting Elio to pull her into a side hug while he waved as well.

That's when the champion and the dragon tamer both took off.

Oooooo

The watt trader by the gate was right. It was pretty stupid to be wandering around in the dark. Since I am not the type to normally shrug off common sense, I asked a trainer if I can share their campsite. Thankfully, she was really nice. She offered me curry and an extra sleeping bag.

I slept soundly that night despite my natural fear of being in the wild area in general. Besides that fear, there was also a certain exhilaration. Is this what it feels like to rebel? I've never been the rebel type. It feels scary...yet good at the same time. It feels weird.

The next morning I was awakened by the trainer. I woke up, grabbed my egg, and helped her pack up. She prepared breakfast for her pokemon and I. I honestly thought her pincurchin was more than adorable. I almost turned my hand into swiss cheese by trying to pet it.

After a conversation about my egg, I decided to leave. She offered me to travel with her, but I hurriedly declined and told her this was something I had to do on my own. The last thing she said to me was to make sure I stayed near the pathways. I promised I would and after that we parted.

I look around at all of the fresh greenery. It was pretty quiet in this area. No wild pokemon yet which was odd. I thought the wild area was supposed to be chocked full of wild pokemon. No matter. I'll see some soon enough.

I smile brightly and feel myself relax a bit. "This isn't so bad. I feel like a true explorer, Shell." I am still not too sure about the gender of the egg.

The egg was still.

"I have no idea why I feel so comfortable talking to an egg." I shook my head at that. I am thoroughly amused with myself. "You can understand me, can't you? I'm sure you can."

That reminds me.

I shift the bag so I can grab the wishing star out of the pocket of my bag. "So...you are supposed to make my dreams come true…" my head tilted. "How does this star work? Do I just make a wish or..?" I look around, still seeing no pokemon.

I walk under a tree and have a seat. "Okay." I sit the egg beside me. "Hmm...let's see. My wish. What do I want? I want...I want…" I looked down with a frown. "...I want to be great just like my family."

I take a deep breath. "Whatever pokemon I meet, I want to be able to be the best I can be to them. I want them to understand that I love them and I want them to understand that I love them too." I finish with a small smile.

The wishing star merely continued to glow in my hands.

I am slightly disappointed, but I shrug it off. "Ah. Who am I kidding? Wishing stars don't work like that. I'm daft, aren't I, Shell?" I pat the incubator with a sigh.

The grass rustling snapped me out of my funk. It definitely was not a human. It was most likely a pokemon. I try to stay as still as possible. However, my breathing was enough to alert the pokemon of my presence. When it changed directions and came to me, I gasped.

My heart was beating out of my chest.

It was coming closer!

Please be small!

Please be cute!

Please be-

A stunky walked out of the grass. He looked up at me with a head tilt and looked just as skittish toward me as I was toward him. This stunky looked kind of weird. He was maroon instead of purple and had a fluffy tuft on his head.

I blinked in complete surprise.

Uh oh. It's a stunky. These pokemon are known for spraying the pants off of you if you scare them. Then anyone would be able to smell you within a ten mile radius. Their stench is so powerful it will make you faint!

Steady movements...and maybe I can get out of here without being sprayed.

"H-H-Hey, there, little guy." I shakily greet the pokemon. "I didn't mean to wander into your territory. I'll...just be going now…" I slowly got up to move.

The odd stunky watched as I grabbed my egg and stood. Putting two and two together, the stunky spoke.

Now, I was expecting the stunky to say something like, "Stunky!" Or "Stun-stun". Anything of the like would not have surprised me.

Instead, that little guy said, "W-Wait! Don't leave!" He jumped so he could wrap his arms around my ankle.

"...AAAAAAAAAAGH!" I screamed like there was no tomorrow.

The pokemon...just talked! It talked! It! It!

"AGH!" The stunky screamed as well. He turned his back to me and raised his tail…

"Wait, wait, wait! Don't shoot!" I frantically shook my head. "Hold your fire! I have a family! I have kids!" I blinked. "Okay-I may have lied about the kids part, but please have mercy!" I shielded my face the best I could.

The stunky lowered his guard the slightest bit.

I did the same. We both stared at each other before I said, "You. You can talk." I shake my head. "I-I'm going mad…" I run a hand through my hair.

The stunky looked up at me in surprise. "You can understand me…" He spoke in a very proper accent.

I shook my head. "No I can't. This is some kind of stress induced dream." My body trembled.

The stunky smiled and looked up at me. "You responded! Ha! You can understand me! This is incredible!" The pokemon happily bounced around my feet while I stared at him wide eyed.

"Wha-how do I know you aren't just a talking pokemon?" I raised an eyebrow and backed against the tree.

The stunky tilted his head. "Because no one else can understand me." He answered simply.

"No one but me?" I asked with a dumbfounded expression.

"No one but you." The stunky answered with a nod.

I stare at him as I feel myself becoming suddenly light headed. "Oh...joy…"

I blacked out.

Ooooooo

I look down at my feet in boredom. My brother ran off to go find one of his rivals. Meanwhile, I have been left here. Left sitting on a bench and told not to move. I adjust my gengar hoodie and kick my feet. I looked up, wondering where Raihan was until I gasped and pulled my hoodie down.

I am pretty shy. So, I practically hide in a shell when I see a boy in front of me.

He had purple hair which was kept under a baseball cap. He had an...interesting sense of style. He also had this striking pair of golden eyes. He looked at me in interest. "Hi!" He grinned at me.

I, on the other hand, buried my face deeper into my hoodie.

The boy blinked in surprise. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to know if this is Hammerlocke." He pulled out a map and looked back up at me.

I stare at him. Afterward, I slowly nod my head.

"I-It is?" He asked before he grinned. "Great! I'm Leon by the way. What do you call yourself, mate?" The boy, now known as Leon, held out his hand for me to shake.

I blinked at him from inside the safety of my hoodie.

Leon frowned a bit. "...It's okay. Charmander and I won't bite." He gestured to the orange pokemon by his legs.

I perked up at that sight of the charmander. I hesitantly uncovered my youthful face and looked up at the boy. "J-Jewel. M-My name." I shyly sputtered out.

Leon paused as he looked me over before grinned like he won the lottery. "Nice to meet you, Jewel." He had the slightest bit of pink on his cheeks.

"P-Pleasure to...you too…" I fumbled over my words once again, putting my hands in my pockets.

He smiled at me once again. Leon took a seat beside me. "I'm waiting for a friend of mine. His name's Raihan. Do you know him?"

I nod before saying, "M-My big brother."

Leon blinked in surprise. "No kidding? Such a small world! Err...how old are you?"

"E-Eight…" I slowly become more comfortable.

"I'm ten." Leon responded with a confident smile. "I may be young, but you're looking at the next champ of Galar!"

"Cool." I smile once again.

"Are you a trainer?" He asked, prompting me to shake my head. "Oh. Too bad. If you were one...I can feel it. You'd be great." A young Leon gave me a charming smile, more charming than any other kid I have seen.

I look away bashfully, but there is a hint of a smile on my face.

Leon scooted a bit closer to me before speaking. "You already know that I am going to be the next champ, right? Well, here's how I am going to do it!" He took out a whole notepad.

I looked at him in surprise.

Charmander looked at me and shrugged his shoulders, watching Leon ramble.

That's when I shook my head and continued to watch him with an amused smile.

Ooooooo

When I woke up, I felt dizzy...yet refreshed. I looked around. It seemed to be the start of evening and there were more pokemon around. "Oh. It was...just a dream."

I picked up the wishing stone and the incubator. I might want to head back home now, but I don't have a pokemon yet.

"What was a dream?"

I gasped. It was the stunky from earlier. It wasn't a dream.

"...Not a dream." I furrowed my eyebrows and sat up. After that, I stood. "I can...talk to pokemon." I said in disbelief.

"You can talk to pokemon." Stunky repeated.

"I can talk to pokemon." I replied, letting this unbelievable truth sink in.

"You can talk to pokemon." Stunky pointed to me with a smile.

I can talk to pokemon!" A large grin made its way to my face with a jump.

"You can talk-" The stunky backflipped. "-to pokemon!" The pokemon grinned along with me.

"Wow." I took a deep breath...before I slapped myself...hard.

Stunky looked at me in surprise.

"...Just checking. Not a dream. Cool." I bashfully smiled as I rubbed my heated cheek. "And you're a shiny stunky, aren't you?"

The stunky looked down at its maroon fur with a nod. "Indeed."

That's when I grinned. "Cool! My first day in the wild area and I ran into a shiny! I have to take a picture of you." I bit my lip, looking over all of the missed calls from Raihan and my parents. "Smile." I say before I take the picture.

The stunky tilted his head. "Well-uh. Now that we've got that out of the way. I wanted to know-are you a trainer?" He took a couple steps forward.

I looked up from my phone. "No."

"Oh." The stunky deflated at that.

"But I am looking for a pokemon to take back to Hammerlocke." I smiled at that.

"Oh." Stunky perked up once again.

I reached in my bag and pulled out a minimized pokeball.

The stunky's eyes lit up at the sight.

"Once I find that pokemon, I will put them in one of these and head home." I explain with a small smile. "

The stunky stared for a bit longer before saying, "W-Well, maybe I could-"

"Aw!" I exclaim.

There was a stufful that tumbled out of the ground.

While the stunky deadpanned, I bit my lip. "Oh, what a cutie!" I put the pokeball and wishing star back in my backpack to get a closer look at the pokemon.

That's when the stunky blinked. "Ah, human? There's a rule out here. Don't get too close to a stufful unless-u-unless…" He frantically looked around.

I glance back at him then to the stufful. "What do you mean? It's so cute and harmless. Hi, little one." I smiled down at it.

"Hewwo!" The teddy bear-like pokemon replied in a child-like voice. By the sound of it, it was a little girl.

"Oh…" I melted at the sight. "I want to take you back with me so bad! Do you want to come with me?" I go for the pokeball in my bag.

The stufful tilted her head at that. "I wouldn't mind, but my mommy is the one you have to worry about." The innocent cub began to chew her paw.

I furrow my eyebrows at that. "Your mommy?" I tilted my head.

However, I completely froze when I felt a heated breath crawl down my neck.

I slowly turn my head and look up to see the growling pokemon. Dark body. Pink head. White markings. "...A bewear…" I whisper to myself.

"Hi, mommy!" The stufful happily waved.

Stunky looked between us before saying, "R-Run! Go!" He ran over and nudged my leg with his head.

His words urged me to hold the egg as tight as I could and dash away. I was running as fast as I could, but when I saw the bewear chasing after me, I somehow urged my body to run even faster.

To my horror, the pokemon caught up to me in no time. That's when I started to run in a zigzag pattern to stay alive. The pokemon kept using hammer arm. It brought down arm after arm in an attempt to smash me like a bug.

Due to all of this chaos I didn't notice the strong storm rolling in. The bewear didn't seem to notice either. It was too busy blinded by its rage.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Stunky exclaimed and made sure he used bite on the bewears ankle.

The bewear paused just to check on its ankle. She spotted the stunky and began to try and kick him off.

However, stunky crawled up the bewear's body and used bite on her ear. The bewear released a loud moan-like roar.

I just stopped to stare in amazement.

"Keep going! Don't worry about me, go!" Stunky exclaimed before he bit the larger pokemon again.

My breathing picked up. I took one last look at the stunky before taking off again. A low moan rings in my ears. Thunder sounds. Now, my dear chap, you are all caught up. You are probably wondering if I will survive this little predicament I got myself in. Well, I have no idea! Let's find out together, shall we?

A mixture of tears and rain run down my cheeks. My adrenaline is pumping. Trees are falling behind me along with more low moans.

Oh no. More bewears.

The mother bewear must have called for backup. Oh...who knows what happened to that stunky. No time to wonder about him right now. I need to make sure I survive.

There were three bewears chasing me now. I was running the fastest I could, but it was not enough. However, something else made me stop in my tracks.

A cliff.

I sharply gasped. This can't be happening. I have to choose between jumping off a cliff or facing three angry bewears. This is so not fair. This never happened to my parents, Leon, or Raihan. I just wanted to be great like them…

Just when I was about to accept my fate, a bolt of lightning struck one of the bewear in the back.

One of the large pokemon jolted due to the electricity and fell to the ground in a smoking heap.

The other two bewear turned to see their new opponent.

It was a pikachu. A pikachu with a heart shaped tail. It was a female, then!

The bewear growled and spewed taunts at her. However, the pikachu remained silent.

She merely lowered herself to the ground before charging at them on all fours.

The bewears charged forward as well.

With nowhere else to run, I had no choice but to stand still, get rained on, and watch.

One of the bewear used hammer arm while the other went in with thrash.

The pikachu's speed dramatically increased in a blink of an eye.

When the bewear brought his arm down, the pikachu had hopped up into the air.

Since the rain was pelting my glasses and my eyes, I gawked at what I did see. "That was agility!" I whispered in surprise.

After that, an electric orb grew at the end of the pikachu's tail. The pokemon silently flipped mid air, prompting the orb to be sent off in the direction of one bewear

"Electro ball." I mumbled in surprise and I winced when the orb caused a small explosion on the bewear. The second bewear fainted also.

One last bewear.

The two pokemon stared each other down. My breath caught in my throat.

A cool wind whipped by. All of our adrenaline is acting as a coat for our soaked and chilled bodies.

When the bewear rushed toward the pikachu, the smaller pokemon blitzed over with quick attack. She tackled the bewear in the stomach.

Caught off guard, the bewear slid back. It lowly growled once again and ran towards the pikachu.

The pikachu backflipped out of the bewear's way. By the time the bewear figured out he missed, the pikachu hopped up, smacked her red electricity filled cheeks. This caused electricity to generate from the cheek pockets and release a powerful thunderbolt from her body.

That's when the last bewear fainted.

I stared at the pokemon in awe as she effortlessly landed on the ground. She beat all three bewear without saying a word. She was just completely silent. She looked at me with a tilt of her head. Not minding the fainted bewears on the ground, she walked closer to me, her ears twitching at the slightest sound.

My awe quickly turned into fear when I saw the pokemon approaching. That pikachu had just taken out a trio of bewear in only five moves. That pokemon should be considered a legal weapon.

I shake my head as my head. "N-N-No! Stay back! I'm w-warning you..!" I swallow when the pikachu steps forward in interest.

I continued to back away in fear, forgetting that I have a cliff right behind me. Small rocks began to fall from it as I inched back."Stay awa-!"

I fell right off the cliff. I didn't scream immediately. It was like my brain had to catch up or something. When it did, I screamed once again.

Thankfully the cliff wasn't too high. I fell before sliding down the muddy cliff wall. Then I was launched into the hard and unforgiving trees. I slid into rock hard tree stumps on my way down, leaving me dizzy and sore. I definitely hit my head somewhere in there. I managed to shield the egg from harm. I protected it while my body took the beating. That's why I had no choice but to take the last tree with the side of my body.

I saw stars after that hit. Now my ribs were killing me. The side of my body crashed into the tree. A sharp pain traveled through my soaked body. I sure hoped nothing was broken. The rain continued to pour while my vision became dizzier. I try to sit back up but a combination of pain and dizziness cause me to end up down in the mud again.

I whimper pitifully. I'm a sitting ducklett now. Who knows what other big pokemon would come out here just to finish me off. I should have never left home.

Before I could think too much of it, I blacked out again.

Hello, again and thanks for reading!

You know, I thought it would be cool to give wishing stars an ability besides gigantimaxing pokemon by making them actually grant wishes. It seemed appropriate since the stars seem to be able to choose people and are said to make dreams come true.

Hopefully Leon and Raihan can get to Jewel before it's too late.

Until next time!

-SuperNova